The cajon is a percussion instrument which comes from percussion traditions in Cuba and Peru. The instrument evolved from the striking of different size box containers to produce varying tones to the specific construction of boxes with features that produce an improved sound. Generally, cajons have one side that is a striking surface. The remaining sides, top and bottom of the cajon serve as structural support for holding up the player.
Although there are several varieties of cajon drums, a common design is shown in FIG. 1 wherein a drummer 10 sits astride the drum 20. The cajon drum 20 is essentially a six-sided box with the four side walls made of plywood. Five of the six sides of the box are generally made of 0.25 inch to 0.75 inch thick plywood. Some cajon drums have four side walls, a top and an open bottom. The head 21 or tapa is typically made of thinner plywood, such as 0.125 inch plywood, and is the striking surface or head of the drum formed in first side wall 21. A circular opening 30 is formed in a second side wall, either in the wall opposite the head or in an adjacent wall 22 as shown in FIG. 1. The opening 30 may be any shape, such as circular, oval, or rectangular as examples.
In many cajons, the striking surface has a snare device attached to it permanently or in a fashion that allows the player to disengage the snare with a “throw off”. When guitar strings are used as the snare device, the strings often rattle uncontrollably. The strings are often taped to the striking surface from inside the box to tame the snares. In this fashion the snares are dampened but don't produce as much snare tone overall.
Some cajons use a series of connected coiled wires that are typical of the snare mechanism on the bottom of a traditional snare drum. These coiled wires are typically installed inside the cajon box at either fixed, or adjustable angles, to the playing surface allowing the coiled wires to rest on the playing surface with some tension applied. When the playing surface is struck, the coiled wires separate from the playing surface and the pressure returns them rapidly thus repeating several times creating a “snare” effect. While this can be effective at times, there are often issues with the ability of the snare mechanism to maintain an appropriate amount of tension, or be installed at non-ideal angles, or have the coiled wires not equally tensioned thus creating additional snare sounds not originally intended. These sounds can be considered noise and unwanted.
Other cajons utilize strings, typically guitar strings, mounted inside the cajon box in such a manner as to have the strings (or wires) in contact with the playing surface. There are many different methods for installing the strings (or wires) such that they contact the playing surface (typically near the top of the drum box) and continue to contact the surface for part of, or the entire length of, the playing surface. When the playing surface is struck, the strings (or wires) separate from the playing surface and return back rapidly several times creating a “snare” effect. The ability of the strings to perform this vibration depends on the installation and tension of the strings. One of the problems with installations of this type are designing a method to keep the strings at a certain tension while simultaneously keeping them close enough to the playing surface to react when played. Typically, the strings are put under tension by stretching them in a straight line, then they are either installed such that they contact the playing surface at an initially determined location and remain that way for some portion of the playing surface, or the tensioned strings are mounted on a mechanism that allows them to be positioned as close to the playing surface at the initial point of contact and/or the end point of contact with the playing surface. In some cases, the strings (or wires) are mounted directly to the playing surface.
In each of these prior art devices, complex assemblies are utilized in attempt to position the strings precisely along or slightly below the plane of the playing surface. These installations and mechanisms are often complicated or unreliable resulting in unwanted additional sound effects that can be considered noise and unwanted.